The protection and restoration of the cultural heritage is a government priority, Resources and Infrastructure Minister Ninu Zammit said, adding that this was proved by the levels of training given to workers and the financial investment made by the government.

Mr Zammit was speaking during an on-site visit to the Chapel of the Saviour in Kalkara yesterday. The chapel lies behind the old Bighi hospital and was designed in 1651 to stand on the site of a previous ruin which was razed to the ground during the Great Siege of Malta.

The building was in a very dilapidated condition, mostly due to stone degradation. Layers of plaster contributed further to the deterioration of the building.

Mr Zammit said a detailed study of the building was carried out and the necessary procedures to rectify the problems were drafted. The restoration programme is extensive and will require specialists to carry it out. The priority, said

Mr Zammit, was to stem the flow of water leaking into the chapel.

At present, work is being carried out to restore apertures to their original sizes, after some of them were partly walled in. Cement plaster is also being removed from the sacristy walls – the plaster was found to be up to four inches thick in places.

Mr Zammit said that this, and other projects, were only possible thanks to the dedication and high skill of the architects and workers involved.